tegs07

Your confusing marketing with common sense. Do I I purchase a bass because MrX uses it no. Do I buy a can of coke over Brand X because Michael Jackson dances around with it no. But those brands are seared into my subconscious by decades of association and subliminal messages from every form of media. It works. Every endorser keeps that brand at the forefront of each generations association with what rock or pop stars play. Every concert footage, photo op, tv appearance they are waving the brand about to millions of viewers. So yes Flea and Adam Clayton and Nate Mendel help shift Fenders. They play to huge audiences and get the Fender name on every form of media channel out there from the David Letterman show to YouTube to the BBC to Rolling Stone magazine etc etc Edit: I doubt if Fender even particularly care how many Flea basses they sell. As long as Flea is holding a bass that has Fender written on it on David Letterman or glossy mag photo shoot or the BBC during Coachella or whatever that is advertising worth a huge amount of money. More than the sale of a specific run of basses. They will already be working on the contract for the next Flea (whoever that may be) endorsement deal as I type to continue the market saturation.

If endorsement didn’t shift basses manufacturer’s wouldn’t bother with it. They are not going to invest money in marketing, manufacturing etc etc for no reason. There is a reason everyone has heard of Fender or coca-cola etc and it’s not just down to the product.

I would think Flea has shifted a fair few basses.

Ol’ 55 - Tom Waits

I’m struggling with Play for Today by The Cure so I think it’s fair to say I am unlikely to be be buying or attempting to play anything by Janek Gwizdala. I do have to venture to the 15th fret though which is pretty adventurous for me!

All cats are grey - the cure

I’ve played some great CV’s. I’ve owned some better MIM Fenders. The Vintera 50’s P and Nate Mendel P for example. So do 2 brand new CV’s make a better purchase than a used Vintera or Nate or Flea? We would all have our opinions but mine would be no.

The strangest example of this was when I moved from a rental property to a new house. A lot of the stuff in the rental wouldn’t fit in the new house and I had been gifted some items from downsizing relatives. There was enough stuff to pretty much furnish a small flat. Since I had been gifted some pretty nice stuff and had a lot of stuff to shift I advertised it all on Freecyle for nothing. Just turn up and collect. The number of time wasters was unbelievable including one where I left work early to meet someone and help them load it into a van. They didn’t bother to turn up but that evening I got a text from his wife saying he was busy and would I mind delivering it all to them. The mind boggles. Eventually the 3rd on the list (of people that actually arranged to collect) did turn up. A lovely polish lady who couldn’t have been nicer. Bought me a bottle of wine and tried to insist on paying for the items.

Problem is there will always be a Putin who would want both pies and the bakery.

Well done I think you have succeeded in concluding that the answer to Sterling vs MusicMan is pie. In all varieties.

Doesn’t that dude play highly complex pieces on a 6 string bass? Not really a mass market kind of music but sure if your going down that route a different bass would be required.

I don’t think there is a compelling reason to eat pies, visit New York or drive an Aston Martin. However mmm pies 🤤🤤

Ok I will extract the widdling. Play whatever and however you like. I was just trying to say I don’t think there is an issue with bolt on necks. I can easily reach the 19th fret an a standard bolt on neck Jazz bass but rarely need to do so as the vast amount of popular music tends to utilise the other end of the fretboard.

Jaco was a genius. One I rarely listen to. Most people aren’t Jaco. Most people won’t be affected by any difficulty reaching the last couple of frets (if there is a difficulty) if you are then buy a different bass by all means but I would caution that anyone in the audience that isn’t a muso really will be bored rigid if you are widdling away on the far dusty end.

So in conclusion if you like to spend your time widdling around at the dusty end of the neck avoid the Fender Jazz. If you want to play music people actually want to listen to don’t worry.

Back to black - Amy Winehouse

Pillars of eternity - Down

I sold a Bitsa a while back before joining BC. It was clearly advertised as a Bitsa made up from genuine Fender parts and priced accordingly. It sold pretty sharpish at the end of auction for a little over what I expected. I did get one excessively rude pillock who messaged saying I can only off whatever desultory sum as it was such an “unsuitable” and random collection of parts. Erm yeah a Fender neck on a Fender body with Fender Bridge and tuners and a Tonerider pickup. Really random and unsuitable.

Golden retriever - Super Fury Animals

Lies - Black Keys

I stopped advertising things for free because of this. I found putting a very low price on something deterred the chancers and general tosspots.

Bob Marley - Brighton Centre I was a year too young…. And no responsible adult would go with me. He died the year after ☹️

Is it made of tonewood?

Yep I do but it can be tiresome. eBay is my least favourite place to sell anything.

My typical eBay experience is as follows: Fender Precision Bass, Made in Mexico, 1996, Full working order and in excellent condition. No hard case so collection only from Bristol. £450 ono Then wait for questions: Is this a Jazz bass? What make is your bass? Will you post it? Where are you? Is this an American bass? Would you take £80 for it? How old is this bass? Does it work? etc etc